FinTech News

Cion Digital Raises $12 Million to Expand Cryptocurrency Payments

There’s no doubt that 2021 was a breakout year for crypto. Not only did several assets see major price increases (along with plenty of volatility) but a number of startups in the cryptocurrency space also saw significant investments. Now, with 2022 officially underway, one crypto-centric FinTech is starting off the year by closing a new funding round.

This week, Cion Digital announced that it had raised $12 million. The seed round was by Green Visor Capital and 645 Ventures with additional participation from Cota Capital, Epic Ventures, Hourglass Capital Partners, BAT Ventures, Greycroft, and Ulu Ventures.

Cion Digital bills itself as a software-as-a-service blockchain orchestration platform. The company aims to assist retailers and financial service providers as they look to better integrate cryptocurrency payments into their businesses. For retailers, Cion’s platform can allow them to accept crypto for purchases or down payments as well as hold crypto as collateral. Additionally, according to their site, Cion can help enable FinTechs to offer crypto-backed loans, branded crypto loyalty programs and/or wallets, and more.

Speaking to the need for Cion, the company’s co-founder and president Fred Brothers stated, “Established businesses are struggling to understand crypto and decide when and how to embrace it. It’s a significant challenge to quickly and effectively embed crypto in their legacy products and services. He continued, “Without Cion Digital’s Blockchain Orchestration Platform, existing businesses can take months or years – and spend significant up-front investment – to gain knowledge, acquire resources, and begin delivering crypto solutions. Since the crypto ecosystem is evolving so fast, without the right help and expertise it’s like trying to hit a moving target.”

Commenting on his firm’s investment, 645 Ventures co-founder Nnamdi Okike explained, “Cion Digital Co-Founders Snehal Fulzele, Fred Brothers and Arpit Agrawal have deep knowledge and experience in both traditional finance and the rapidly-growing blockchain and crypto sectors, as well as a track record of building successful FinTech companies. We are very impressed by the platform’s technological innovations that will enable traditional businesses to deploy and benefit from crypto-based payments solutions previously unavailable to them.”

With 2022 only a few days old, Cion’s seed round kicks off the year in style. Following a massive year for FinTechs — especially those in the crypto field — in 2021, it looks like the new year will pick up right where the last one left off. On top of that, amid all of the megarounds in this space, it’s encouraging to see such a solid early-round raise. From here, it will be interesting to see how Cion leverages its newly-acquired $12 million and hopefully help expand the crypto market even further.